Hummingbirds and Wasps...the Wayfarer

Hummingbirds and Wasps

“Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?

Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?

And why take ye thought of raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:

And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

 Wherefore if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O  ye of little faith?

(Matthew 6:26-30)

As I sat on my porch with my early morning coffee one summer's day, I watched the shenanigans of the hummingbirds that come to my feeders year after year. Their beauty is a portion of why I place those feeders, their actions still yet another portion of the reasoning I place them annually so that they return to give me the pleasure of watching them hover and come to visit, often coming close to examine this strange creature that sits quietly in their presence, and is known by them to keep those feeders full.

Should I forget to fill a feeder they do not hesitate to flit closely hovering inches away and fussing at me to get up and fill them for them.

This particular morning, the feeders were full, the morning quite warm, the early morning fog of the valley having burned off and drifted above the confines of the surrounding ridge that is also a portion of the beauty of the view while sitting in my usual place on the swing at the end of the porch.

I sat reflecting on how often Christ used the beauty of the world God made within His parables, one leading into another and another, all the while watching three species of the bird continually dog fighting in the air, taking pause once in a while for the sustenance I had provided them, chasing each other form those feeders although there was ample food  for all of them, and enough feeders spaced far enough apart to allow them to separate their families from each other, yet share what had been given.

Wasps and yellow jackets, feared creatures with wings that once scared me joined in the quest for food, troubling those beautiful birds that it was provided for, which in turn eventually united the birds, if only for a short while to chase them off so that their little ones could safely come and drink from the feeders provided specifically for them.

Unlike the birds who come because I invited them purposefully, because of their beauty and the joy it gives me, those creatures were, are and will always be only thieves attempting to steal from those birds, while chasing away the very cause of the placement of the feeders.

Eventually, as stated, the various families of birds with all their distinct coloration, each unique, each holding its own particular preciousness of beauty, each welcome to come visit, united to chase them away, actually sharing, if only for a while, what was provided.

The actions of the birds were so like what I see within the community of mankind that I could not help but to draw a parallel to what has been provided us through the gift of Christ Jesus, sustenance, not of body but of soul, adequate for all seeking it despite differences in language, heritage, ethnicity, and all the things that separate the various “species” of mankind, created to glorify and honor God which gives Him the Joy intended by that creation.

The dog-fighting among the birds put me much in mind of the dog-fighting that occurs within denominational teachings that continue to separate the various factions of Christianity, each claiming the sustenance for themselves, but seemingly attempting to deny it to others, simply because of the differences between them, not taking the time to recognize the fact that, like the different colored humming birds, there is a greater commonality, as the sustenance given is more than adequate for all.

“There arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest.

And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him,

And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great.

And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us.

And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us.”

(Luke 9:48-50)

Differences of cliques and groupings that cling to denominational teachings alone, while denying all others different from them, defeat the very purpose of discipleship, and like the birds deny the young the sustenance needed to survive and grow into the intended beings created for God’s pleasure.

Unlike the various birds that banded together to chase the wasps and yellow jackets away to protect their young as they fed, these divisions allow the wasps and yellow jackets of those in complete denial of Christ to assume the ownership of that sustenance that has been provided us.

When we cannot come together to protect that sustenance despite the differences of coloration and minor things that distinguish our individual identity, we deny the commonality of our identity as disciples of Christ, which is what Christianity is about!

The “Wasps” and “Yellow jackets” are denying us the sustenance of the provided nectar as we abandon that nectar to attack our own, while the theft goes unnoticed.

Atheism and religions other than Christianity make up only a small percentage of the population, according to all polling.

That percentage is, however, rapidly growing.

The rights given that allow access to the sustenance of the scripture are eroded, and our young are denied what was taken for granted, just as the various humming birds take for granted what is provided them, until the feeders are empty enough to come close enough to beg for more of it.

“But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you.

But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil heart, and went backward, and not forward.”

(Jeremiah 7:23&24)

We have been given instruction throughout the scriptures to hearken to the Voice.

That Voice gave us one simple commandment, and the means to know whether or not it was being followed:

“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love, one to another.”

(John 13:34&35)

That love may only be shown, by putting aside the differences and living in the commonality of His love!

In closure, I remain, the same human being, distinct in appearance as from creation from all others, but with the commonality of being human that left me, from that creation, a sinner in the sight of God, changed only to a sinner saved by God’s grace through the Faith given me, and the salvation given me by the blood sacrifice of the Son of God, whose disciple I strive daily to be, despite my own weaknesses and proclivities that are inherent, that have been taught by men, not  by God, that would only separate and deny others the same gift of sustenance throughout eternity.

I remain that same soldier standing watch, just as one particular red-necked banded little fellow that sits at the end of my flagpole watching for the wasps while his family is fed from my feeders.

It is time that we remember another closure, that given in Christ’s Sermon on the mount:

“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

(Matthew 7:24-27)

Despite my being repetitive, I choose to close once more with His words, not my own:

“And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his works shall be.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.”

Amen and Amen.

the Wayfarer